Sunday, September 1, 2013

Overcoming rejection isn’t easy.Although we all face it at one time or
another, our reactions to it can range from crippling insecurity and
overprotectiveness to a “leave him/her before I’m left” approach to relationships.The author Tracey Mitchell, in the book
Downside Up, attempts to show how rejection can actually be a positive
influence on a person’s life, by weeding out the negative people and situations
and allowing for a much more confident individual to thrive.There are plenty of ways to be rejected, and
the author gives many stories, both from her own life and those of others, to
illustrate this.She herself grew up without
a father, and this led to some abandonment issues in her own life.She also points out numerous examples of
self-fulfilling prophecies – people who fear rejection will often attract only
people guaranteed to reject them.There
are many ways to begin to turn all of this negativity around.The main thing the author stresses is to
really work on making sure your internal dialogue is filled with only positive,
encouraging messages.When you are
talking inside your own head, there’s no one to tell you if your attitudes and
perceptions are incorrect.She also
encourages a lot of list-making of positive attributes and affirmations, and
keeping those handy for times of stress or self-doubt.She frequently gives Biblical references to
support her ideas.Each chapter ends
with a list of 10 chapter principles which summarize her advice, along with
Words of Wisdom, a Power Quote and a Plan of Action.I liked her upbeat, positive advice, and the
practical suggestions she gives in her Plans of Action for creating a more
confident attitude.Of course, as with
most self-help books, it’s all situational, and her advice wouldn’t be useful
in all situations. On the whole, I found plenty of good ideas and ways to help
overcome negativity and pessimism, and I’ll try to keep them in mind if the “gloomies”
come for a visit!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of Downside Up from the BookSneeze program in exchange for this review

0
comments:

About Me

I'm a librarian who is interested in all things British. I try to visit London as often as possible, and am always planning my next trip. I lived in Sweden for a few years with my Swedish husband, so the occasional Swedish reference may occur . . .